Lentil Stuffed Samosas – Dal ke Samose a Guest Post by Journey Kitchen

I am super excited to launch this new, India Series, along with the other two ongoing, Israel Series and Tree Nut/Nut Free Macaron Series which is on hiatus until the Fall season. To help me launch this series I asked the lovely, super young and super talented Kulsum (@JourneyKitchen) of Journey Kitchen to share some of our all time favorites, samosas. I can't really recall when Kulsum's and my paths crossed on twitterverse but what struck me the most was her unique Indian Bohra Cuisine which I hadn't heard of before. As Kulsum works full time and is finishing up her Masters degree, she also finds time to share with us some dishes from her Bohra heritage. Indian Date Pudding for one and the samosas filled with lentils that is more prevalent at her mom's home while growing up, as opposed to the widely popular spicy potatoes and peas. Thank you Kulsum and thank your husband too for the professional looking demonstration! :)

Samosas make me extremely nostalgic. Not a potato filled ones but rather lentils and meat stuffed samosas which are a known delicacy of the little town I come from. Growing up, any feast or occasion had to include samosa. Mom starts her morning by making thin pastry from whole wheat flour which is similar to making roti. Two balls of dough are put together pressed at edges and then rolled out thinly. While its cooked on the hot griddle, the air fills and separates the two layer of pastry that were put together leading to two thin sheets of round pastry.

Then, she makes the filling, slowly cooking the meat or lentils, chopping herbs, onions and eye balling the perfect amount of salt and other spices. We sisters along with mom would sit on a long cloth which is like a table cloth only that it’s put on the ground instead of table in the dining room. Mom watches her daily soaps while her hands as if trained to make samosas worked perfectly in making the samosa pockets and filling them. While she watched and chatted, we sisters would stuff ourselves with the rolled samosa and mom would lightly hit our hands to keep us off. She said it messes up her count. We never listened.

Once more than 100 samosas were rolled up, she would get ready for deep frying them. We would follow her in the kitchen and eat the samosas as they came out of the oil, perfectly crisp, hot and golden. She would ward off us again, complaining how nothing will be left for the guests. We (and the major part of ‘we’ is me) never listened.

And trust me, this are so pathetically moreish, you just won't realize how you eat a dozen. We always had guests asking for second and third servings. And somehow mom had mastered the art of always making enough so guest left satisfied.

Fast forward to mom's dear daughter aka me, as much as I love them, I can't always find time to make everything from scratch. So I rely on frozen spring roll wraps as pastry which works wonderfully well here. My mom won't be very proud but my husband is. Which works at the moment.

If you are thinking this is going to be difficult, let me tell you, the hands in the step by step tutorial are my husband’s. All these samosas in the picture are rolled by him. I just had to show him once how to roll them and then he was on his own! I don't know what that says about him (he's more capable in kitchen then I think?) but trust me, if he can make them, you surely can!

Thank you Shulie for generously inviting me to your fabulous blog. I can't exactly remember how I connected to Shulie, but I remember well how generous in her words, kind in her attitude and encouraging she has always been to me.

Lentil Stuffed Samosas - Dal ke Samose
Makes 10-12

Ingredients
For filling
1 cup toor dal/ split pigeon pea*
1/2 cup spring onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt to taste

For Glue
¼ cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp water
Pastry
Ready to use spring roll wrappers (I used 4 square sheets and cut them into 3 inch rectangles)

Note
*You can also use moong dal i.e. split and husked mung beans which is more commonly used.

Method
Boil the dal in water until they are cooked through but still retain the shape. Completely drain the lentils so no water is left. For better results it helps to keep the lentils in sieve for 10 -15 minutes. Mix all the ingredients in the filling with a light hand so as to not break the lentils and keep aside.

Mix the ingredients for glue and keep aside.

Cut the spring roll wrappers into 3 inch wide rectangles. Cover it with a damp cloth while working with it so it doesn’t dry out.

Cutting Pastry
Holding the rectangular pastry at the middle, take the bottom left corner and fold it towards the right into a triangle. Then take the bottom corner of the triangle you just formed and pull it upwards towards the left into another triangle to form a cone.

Fill about 2 tbsp of filling into the triangle and pressing it down with your finger.

Once you fill the cone, take the bottom left corner up towards the right side. Then brush the flour and water glue on the end of the pastry and fold over the top of the filled triangle to seal.

It’s important that the samosa is completely sealed so oil doesn’t seep into the filling while frying. If you see any openings close it with the glue mixture.

Heat oil in a wok and drop the triangles in it.

They are done when light golden brown. Serve with ketchup.

They freeze extremely well. So you can make in bulk and keep it in deep freezer and just thaw and fry them before serving.